Monday, February 8, 2016

(Savage Showdown) #6 Rescue from Kisi Rushwa

Super Bowl Sunday has come and gone. It was once a pre-eminent event with my group. Whether it was the game, the commercials, or the camaraderie, everyone would flock to Nate and Steve's place. Heck, I was driving three hours from Wellsboro to participate for a few years.

Whether it was apathy, family, or life in general, it's dwindled down to a small shin-dig at Steve's Man Cave, and between a crazy family life, and the most football I watched at one time this fall was three and a half quarters of Army-Navy, I had little impulse to go.

With Mommy working, the girls got time to descend into the Kriget Rum and do their most requested activity: paint.

Millie finished her Chupacabra and we painted baby dragons, 54mm horses, and some Egyptian terrain.

After an afternoon of cleaning and Young Justice Season 2 for the girls (and me...), we dealt with the traditional spectacle which is Mommy coming home from work, a makeshift dinner and baths, and as the Big Game played on in the TV room, my eldest daughter Maja and I set up the dining room table for the big conclusion of our Savage Showdown Pulp campaign, or at least this first storyline.

In our previous adventures, the heroes had been harassed and robbed of their treasures, their compatriot, Swedish Adventurer Nils Lingonberry had been arrested/kidnapped by corrupt government soldiers, they were double-crossed at an antiquities sale, and they barely survived a zombie attack!

Post-zombie attack, they had befriended the two surviving double-crossing sailors using threats and an unloaded shotgun. According to my daughter, they became fast friends.

The sailors proved much more helpful than anticipated. Through their contacts, it was discovered that the corrupt government soldiers garrisoned on a swank little island in the Big River named Kisi Rushwa. If Nils was anywhere, this would be the first place to check.

The sailors also talked to some British soldiers who felt sorry for the bunch and felt it proper to flex some imperialist muscle against the oppression of this free country.

Our Heroes (played by Maja): Rescue Nils!

Maja Millie: famed archaeologist. knife

Bob Njano: native animal handler turned Hero! Shotgun

Pink Mouse: anthropomorphic mouse archer. Bow

Sailors x2: newfound friends. Rifles

The Rest (played by Dad): Keep Nils!

Corrupt Federales (using Gnome Wars Union Infantry)

Federales MG - acts on a different initiative card.

And all other special guest stars (TBA)

The Island of Kisi Rushwa

Turn One: Maja (the daughter) wisely decides that the house with the fence around it is either holding Nils... or a whole bunch of puppies and sets up right next to it. Problem for Dad: Unlike my own green army guy/war movie filled early childhood, Maja had no concept as to what barbed wire exactly was. The best they could do is dash out of the tree line and reach the rear of the building .

Our heroes with an excellent use of camouflage

The base itself was quiet, save for Bob barely noticing a rustling in the jungle on the other side. Little did they know that Lt Colonel Thaddeus Ovaltine and his Rough 'n Ready Riders were emerging from their hiding spots to raid the base of antiquities that the soldiers had stolen from other expeditions.

The British sailors landed on the beach, only to be spotted and fired upon by the machine gun. Two sailors died on the spot.

Three soldiers emerged from the building directly across from the prison, but noticed nothing amiss.

Turn Two: There was a comedy of errors behind the prison building. Maja Millie rolled some of the worst dice of the campaign as she tried to leap over the barbed wire, burning two Bennies but still ending up tangled in the barbed wire and receiving a wound to boot! Pink Mouse burned two of her(?) own trying to crawl underneath, but was ultimately successful. Bob? He brought wire cutters and made on opening.

Sometimes I forget my daughter is only six.

The soldiers made a listen check and heard Ovaltine's men. They turned the corner and fired into the oncoming rush of men. The Rough 'n Ready Riders returned fire, killing two soldiers.

Back on the beach, the British dove for cover behind some rocks, but still lost another man. The machine gun seemed invincible.

TURN THREE: Pink Mouse tried to free Maja Millie from the bloody mess of wire. Bob and the the sailors inched along the side of the building, only to see the surviving solider dash around the far side of his building.

"I wonder where he's going?

Soldiers poured out of another building to meet Ovaltine's men, but their shots missed wide.

The British were finally able to return fire and killed the ammo loader! The confused machine gunner not only missed all his shots, but ran out of ammo as well!

TURN FOUR: The turn started with Pink Mouse pulling a Joker. Another Bennie! The mouse turned an ran to the far side of the prison. Maja Millie slinked down the other side unnoticed and finally recognized who these raiders were. Bob avoided notice and got to the front door and burst it open with one strong throw of his shoulder. Nils was there! As well as pilot, Ted Mosby, another captive of the soldiers.

"We found Nils (unarmed)"

Ovaltine's men charged into two building to kill, loot, and plunder, and the British finally got into a formation to pepper the machine gunner and killed him.

One of the sailors back at the prison became brave and he too dashed into the door, only to dodge a hail of bullets from the Riders.

TURN FIVE: Bob and the sailor freed the prisoners and spent the time catching everyone up to speed. The other sailor soon joined them, as did Maja Millie, thanks to the sneaky efforts of the soldier who ran away. He shot one of Riders in the back, killing him instantly. The others returned fire, slaying the soldier as well.

"Ah, behind us" *bang*

Pink Mouse took that moment to slide under the barbed wire in front of the prison with ease and enter the house across the road.

And finally, the British soldiers figured it would be a perfect time to seize the machine gun and turn it one everyone who wasn't an ally, but a rumbling behind them cut it short.

"Oh boy"

Where did a dinosaur come from on this island? But there was no time for deep thoughts. Failing a morale test, they dashed into the machine gun nest, only to find empty ammo crates.

TURN SIX: Bob and Sailor #1 opened the doors and fired on the Riders, pushing them to cover. The Riders' return fire pierced the neck of the sailor. He would not leave this island.

Lt Col Ovaltine searched another barracks with two of his men, but could find nothing. He could hear loud noises and gun shots coming from the barracks his other men entered, only to see one of them fly out into the street, quite dead.

The British sailors got into formation and fired onto the dinosaur. Their hits were true, but the bullets would barely harm a kitten, much less a heavily armored Stegosaurus! The ensuing charge trampled three of the Brits.

The soldiers and riders distracted by the appearance of a dinosaur, gave our heroes a chance to escape. Bob and Sailor #2 burst out firing, killing one more soldier.

Bob and Sailor #2 covering the getaway.

This was the first time I used the end game mechanic (Rolling a 0 on a d10 on turn 6 ends the game, 9,0 on turn 5, and so forth) and a zero was rolled. Our heroes succeed!

Here ends our Treasure Hunt storyline. A few friends have been lost along the way, but a few gained in return. The great archaeological finds netted our Heroes little except doing the right thing.

Except for Pink Mouse. Pink Mouse searched the barracks she had entered and discovered a series of artifacts. She took as many as her little body could hold and snuck out without anyone noticing.

This was the first time that Maja (the daughter and the character) had a member of her direct team die in the game. While she wasn't distraught over it, she did say a little prayer before she went to bed that night, hoping that "Captain Skippy's sailor" was in heaven. "Captain Skippy was the bad guy, not the sailors!"

I had the same problem with this as the Tim from Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog did when he ran it. A pile of special encounters to roll when someone pulled a Joker, yet only one got pulled (the small dinosaur. God help anyone if the big one showed up...)

I have more pulp games (*cough* taking ideas from other blogs *cough*) to run, but Maja stopped me in my tracks.

"Daddy, can we run a super-hero game like this for awhile."

Guess we need to pick up some bulk Heroclix. I know Supergirl and Wonder Woman need to make appearances.

About Me

I'm a very happy (and happily married) father of two beautiful little girls named Maja and Amelia. Maja bit the gaming bug with Gnome Wars at the age of two, and has kept going ever since.
I've been at just about every end of the gaming industry (save distribution, I just had connections). Store employee, manager, company demo guy, writer, publisher, reviewer, painter, con staff and organizer.